Container handling machines



Jan. 1, 1957 s. R. HOWARD 2,776,047

CONTAINER HANDLING MACHINES Filed Dec. 15, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet l 'LL) O(-3 O.@ O O O (D HTTOR/VEV Jan. 1, 1957 s. R. HOWARD CONTAINER HANDLINGMACHINES 5 sheets-sheet 2 Filed Dec. 13, 1955 INVENTOR.

d. .SM W- HTTO R/VEP Jan. 1, 1957 s. R. HOWARD CONTAINER HANDLINGMACHINES 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec. 13. 1955 INVENTOR.

ATTORAEV Jan. 1, 1957 s. R. HOWARD 2,776,047

CONTAINER HANDLING MACHINES Filed Dec. 13, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 mmvroxSim/e 1? /7 awd/u BY .8 QMGLMQM.

ATTO/FA Ef Jan. 1, 1957 s. R. HOWARD 2,776,047

CONTAINER HANDLING MACHINES Filed Dec. 13, 1955 5 Sheets-$heet 5 IN VENTOR.

aim 2y f/ /owa'ra BY w-az cm m CONTAINER HANDLING MACHINES Stanley R.Howard, Milton, Mass., assi'gnorto Pneumatic Scale Corporation, Limited,Quincy, M'ass., a corporation-of Massachusetts Original applicationDecember 10,. 1949,. Serial No. 132,242, new Patent No. 2,762,4 7, datedSeptember 11, 1956. Divided and this application December 13, 1955,Serial No. 552,920

3 Claims. (Cl. 193-232) This invention relates to container handlingmachines.

The object of the invention is to provide a container handling machinewith novel andlsuperior controlmechanism for quickly terminating theoperation of the machine in the event that a jam occurs in the progressof the containers through the machine to thereby prevent breakage of thecontainers or damage to the operating parts of the machine in a rapid,eilicient and practical manner.

With this general object in view and such Others as may hereinafterappear, the invention consists in the control mechanisms for a containerhandling machine and in the various structures, arrangements andcombinations of parts hereinafter described and particularly defined inthe claims at the end of this specification.

In the drawings illustrating the preferred embodiment of the invention:

Fig. l is a plan view of a container handlingmachine embodying thepresent invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view illustrating the driving mechanism for the machineshown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a front view of a portion ofthe main driving mechanismillustrating a clutch and brake mechanism forming a part of the presentsafety controlapp'aratus;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of a separable connection forming a part ofthe main driving mechanism;

Fig. 5 is a detailview in front elevation of a portion of the clutchoperative mechanism in a diiferentposition of operation;

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the clutch operating mechanism; I

Fig. 7 is a cross sectionalviev/ of a safety device embodying thepresent invention as applied'to a rotary transfer member driving shaft;

Fig. 8 is a cross sectional view as taken on the line -3 of Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a cross sectional view of the safety device as applied to ashaft driving one of. theoperating mechanisms of the machine;

Fig. 10 is a cross sectional view taken on the line Mi -ill of Fig. 9;

Fig. 11 is a cross sectional'view of a modified form of safety deviceembodying the presentinvention;

Fig. 12 is a cross sectional view taken on the line l2-Li2 of Fig. 11;and

Fig. 13 is a wiring diagram'showing the safety devices connected withthe clutch and brake solenoid-anda switch for opening the circuit to themotor when the clutch is disengaged and the brake applied.

In general the present invention contemplates novel control mechanismfor a container handling machine of the type embodying a plurality ofsuccessive mechanisms for operation upon successive containers, such asa ma chine for cleaning, filling and capping: bottles, having bottleconveying and transferring mechanism for con tinuously advancingv thebottles in spaced relation through the machine and in timed relationtothe operating mechanisms. The conveying and transferringmechanism mayinclude a plurality of cooperating. rotary spiders .ontransfer diskshaving pockets shaped to engage and'transfer nitcd States Patent C) "cc2,776,047 i atented Jan. 1, 1957- the containers from oneo-peratingmechanism to another. In practice in the event that acontainer. is defective, for example deformed in shape or non-uniform insize, or in the event that a container is inadvertently displaced, suchcontainer may become jammed. between adjacent transfer disks, thuscausing breakage of the container or damage to the operating parts.

in accordance with the present invention individual control unitscomprising safety or detecting units are provided at selected transferpoints or in connection with different operating mechanisms of themachine. where a jam is likely to occur, each control unit being.capable of adjustment as to sensitivity so as to selectively detectanabnormal or excessive load at such predetermined points and adapted toeffect immediate disengagement of. the main driving clutch, braking ofthe main driving shaft and opening of the circuit to the driving motorbefore any breakage of the containers or damage to the operating partscan occur. In the preferred embodiment of the invention the detectingunits may include relatively yieldable and adjustable drivingconnections adapted to close aswitch upon a relatively small relativemovement of the driving and driven elements to-eflfect substantiallyimmediate termination of operation of the machine and may be connectedto operate either a. microswitch or a pneumatically operated switch ofthe type including a pressure sensitive element arranged to be actuatedupon extremely slight. relative movement of the driving and drivenmembers of a safety detecting unit; Upon operation of the presentdetecting units, when the jam is cleared the driving and driven elementsare-adapted to immediately. return totheir original driving relationshipwhereby displacement of the transfer elements and the operatingmechanisms relative to each other is avoided and the timed relationshipis maintained.

Referring now to the drawings, in general thepresent invention isillustrated as embodied-in a container handling apparatus including agroup of machines or mechanisms illustrated in Fig. l ascomprisingiconta'iner cleanmechanism, indicated generally at. 19container filling mechanism, indicated-generally at 12, and containerclosing or capping mechanism, indicated generally at. 14. The latterincludes cap feeding mechanism 16 for supplying closures to the cappingmechanism,.and-the.entire group of mechanisms are connectedby commondriving mechanism including a driving motor 18 and a clutch and brakeunit, indicated generally atltl.

In the operation of the illustrated container handling apparatus thecontainers, such as bottles, are moved continuously and at relativelyhigh speed through the various mechanisms, and as herein shown, thebottles are introduced into the apparatus from acont-inuouslydrivensupply conveyor 22 on which the bottles are disposedin contiguousrelation. lnbperation, the foremost bottle in the line is engaged by acontinuously driven rotary star wheel 24 provided with a plurality. ofequally spaced teeth arranged to enter between successive bottles asthey are delivered and to release. such bottles in timed relation to theoperation of the bottle cleaning machine; The bottles thus released are.presented into the-path of arms 26 of a rotary feedingdevice indicatedgenerally at 28' which operates to-transfer successive bottles ontotheplatforms 3ttof successive supporting brackets 32* forming a part ofthe container cleaning machine; the bottles being guided onto theplatform by a guide rail or plate 34,.as shown.

The container cleaning machine 10, herein diagramw matic-al-lyillustrated, may andprefera-bly will comprise a pneumatic cleaning.machine of the type illustratedand described in the- Everett UnitedStates patent, No." 2,3 54,308, July 25; l94"4,=.t-o. which referencemay behad for a more complete disclosure of the machine and the mode ofoperation thereof. Only sufficient portions of such machines are hereinillustrated and described as will enable the present invention to beunderstood.

In general in such cleaning machine, provision is made for presentingsuccessive containers in radial alignment with individual cleaningnozzles on a rotatable support ing member or carrier by which thecontainers are rotated into and inverted position. During the progressof the containers into and from an inverted position provision is madefor injecting a stream of air into the interior of the container toeffect discharge of dust and foreign particles through the mouth of thecontainer.

After cleaning, the bottles are removed from the platforms as theyarrive at the discharge station by the engagement of each bottle with anextended portion of the guide rail 34, and successive bottles thusremoved are transferred by a rotary toothed wheel 36 into successiveequally spaced arcuate pockets or cutouts 38 of a rotary transfer member40. The transfer member 40 is continuously driven in a clockwisedirection viewing Fig. 1 and in timed relation to the discharge of thebottles from the cleaning machine and is arranged to cooperate with astationary guide rail 42 to guide and convey the bottles into the pathof the successive arms 44 of a rotary intake spider 46 arranged to berotated in a counterclockwise direction in timed relation to theoperation of the filling machine 12. As shown in Fig. 1, the bottles areguided out of the pockets 38 by an extended portion 48 of a guide railor plate 50 at which time they are picked up by successive teeth of theintake spider 46 and disposed upon successive continuously movingelevating platforms 52 forming a part of the bottle filling machine 12.

The bottle filling machine, as herein diagrammatically illustrated, mayand preferably will comprise a rotary vacuum filling machine of the typeillustrated and described in the Everett United States patent, No.2,136,421, issued November 15, 1936, to which reference may be had for amore complete description of the construction and mode of operation ofsuch filling machines, only sufficient portions thereof being hereinillustrated and described as will enable the present invention to beunderstood. In general such filling machines are provided with aplurality of filling heads arranged to fill the bottles duringcontinuous movement of the filling heads and the bottles as they aresupported upon the continuously rotating bottle supporting and elevatingplatforms 52, the filling operation being effected by the evacuation ofthe bottle when the latter is elevated into engagement with a fillinghead in accordance with the well known vacuum filling principle.

From the description thus far it will be observed that the bottles arepositively controlled and maintained in spaced relation during theirconveyance through the bottle cleaning machine and through the bottlefilling machine and during their transfer from one machine to the other.After being filled, the bottles are guided off the supporting platforms52 of the filling machine by the engagement of successive containerswith an extended portion 54 of the guide plate 50 and are engaged bysuccessive arms 56 of a continuously rotated spider or transfer member58 arranged to transfer the bottles directly from the filling machineinto the clamping jaws 60 of the rotary closure applying machine 14.

The closure applying machine 14, herein diagrammatically illustrated,may and preferably will comprise a rotary machine of the typeillustrated and described in the Everett United States patent, No.2,082,048, issued June 1, 1937, to which reference may be had for acomplete disclosure of the structure and mode of operation of such amachine. In general such a machine is arranged to apply screw closuresor caps to containers, such as bottles, and is provided with a pluralityof successive clamping jaws 60 forming a part of a revoluble closureapplying machine having a plurality of closure applying devices adaptedto effect the application of the closures to the bottle held by theclamping jaws during the revoluble movement of the clamping jaws whilein vertical alignment with the closure applying devices.

After being provided with a closure the filled and closed bottles aretransferred from the closure applying machine 14 onto the continuouslymoving discharge conveyer 61 by transfer arms 62 of a modified motiontransfer mechanism which is arranged to move the containers in timedrelation to the operation of the closure applying machine and to slowdown the movement of the containers as they are carried around with thetransfer mechanism to deposit them upon the conveyer 61. The containersthus deposited upon the conveyer 61 may be discharged from the machineor they may be carried to other machines, such as to a labeling machine,for subsequent operations on the conl'clillCl'S.

Referring now to Fig. 2, the main driving mechanism includes theelectric motor 18 belted to a pulley 64 fast on a shaft 66 which isconnected to the main driving shaft 68 in axial alignment therewiththrough a separable connection or overload safety unit 70 which isdesigned to be disengaged when an abnormally excessive load isencountered. As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the overload safety unit '70includes an arm 72 fixed to the shaft 66 and provided with a pawl 74fast on a pivot pin 76 in the arm 72 and engageable with a notch 78 in adisk 30 secured to one end of a flanged member 82 loosely mounted on thethe shaft 68. The pawl 74 is slightly tapered as shown and is normallyurged into driving engagement with the notch 78 by a spring 82 connectedto the free end of a lever 84 also fast on the pivot pin 76. Inoperation, when an abnormally excessive load is encountered the pawl 74will slip out of the correspondingly shaped notch 78 against the tensionof the spring. Provision is also made for locking the pawl out ofengagement with the disk in order to prevent successive engagements ofthe pawl in the notch each revolution after it has been initiallydisengaged and, as herein shown, the pawl locking mechanism includes alatch arm 86 pivotally mounted in a short arm 87 formed integrally withthe driving arm 72. The latch arm 86 is arranged to cooperate with aroller 88 carried by the free end of the lever 84, the latch beingnormally maintained in an inoperative position by the roller 84 urgedthereagainst by the spring 82 secured at one end to the latch arm asshown in Fig. 4. Upon rocking of the pawl 74 and lever 84 in a clockwisedirection when an overload occurs, the latch arm will be rocked upwardlyby the spring 82 to engage the roller 88 in the notched portion 89 ofthe latch arm 86, thus maintaining the pawl 74 in its outwardly rockedposition. After the overload condition has been corrected, the pawl andlatch may be manually reset in driving engagement to continue operationof the machine.

As illustrated in Fig. 3, the other end of the flanged member 82 formsthe driving member W of the clutch and brake unit 29 arranged tocooperate with a driven member 92 keyed to the shaft 68 and arranged tobe shifted into and out of engagement with the driving member by ashifter arm 94 fast on a rocker shaft 96 and a manually operated clutchlever 98 also fast on the rocker shaft 96. When the clutch member 92 isshifted to its disengaged position provision is made for simultaneouslybraking the main driving shaft 68, and as herein shown, this may beaccomplished by providing a stationary braking unit 100 arranged tocooperate with the left hand end of the shiftable member 92, the latterbeing keyed to the shaft 68.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the main driving shaft 68 is provided with abevel gear 102 which meshes with a bevel gear 104 fast on a verticalshaft 106 rotatably supported in the machine frame. The closure applyingmachine indicated generally at 14 is driven through a gear trainincluding a pinion 108 fast on the upper end of the shaft 106 whichcooperates with an intermediate gear 110. The latter is arranged to meshwith a gear 112 forming a part of the closure applying machine and whichcorresponds to gear 424 shown in Fig. 3' of the drawings in the Everettpatent, No. 2,082,048, above referred to, and by which therotationof'the machine and operation of the individual closure applyingunits is effected. Provision is alsomade for driving the bottle fillingmachine 12 from the vertical drive shaft 106, the vertical shaft havinga pinion 1*14at its lower end similar to the pinion 108 and which mesheswith-a gear 116, the latter arranged to drive a gear 118' fast on thelower end of a vertical shaft'120. The shaft 120 is also provided with agear 122 meshing with a gear 124 fast on a vertical shaft 126 upon whichthe rotary transfer member 58 is mounted. The shaft 126 is connected bya chain and sprocket drive 128' to a shaft 130providedwith a pinion 132which meshes with a gear 134'forming a part of the driving mechanism ofthe filling machine and which corresponds to the gear 60 shown in Fig. 4of the drawings of the Everett patent, No. 2,136,421, above referred to,and which is arranged to effect continuous rotation of the filling unitsand bottle supporting and elevating members therein disclosed.

The bottle cleaning machine 10 is also arranged to be driven from thegear 122 fast onthe shaft 120-arranged to mesh with a second gear136'fast on ashaft 138" on which the rotary transfer member-44 ismounted; The gear 136 meshes with a pinion 140 fast'on a shaft 142 whichis connected by a chain and sprocket drive'144 to a vertical shaft 146provided with a pinion 148- arranged to mesh with a gear 150 faston adrive shaft 151' which corresponds to the shaft 306 shown'in-Fig'r 3 ofthe drawings in the Everett patent, No. 2,354,308, above referred to,and which effects rotation of the discharge member 36 and the-intakespider- 28 of the cleaning machine 10 through the geartrain 152, 154,156 and also'efr'ects-rotation of the cleaning: spider as disclosed insaid patent. As illustrated in- Fig. 2, the star wheel 24 is-drivenfroma shaft 158 on which the gear 154 is-mounted through chain and sprocketdrives 160, 162, bevel gears 164, chain and sprocket drive 166. andthrough bevel gear-S 168. Rotation of the transfer member. 40 iseffected through a chain and sprocket drive 170 from the shaft 151 to ashaft 172, the latter being provided with a pinion 174- arranged to meshwith a gear 176 fast on a vertical shaft 178 on which the continuouslyrotatable transfer member 40' is mounted.

The intake conveyer 22, as herein-shown, may be driven from the verticaldrive shaft 151 through connections including bevel gears 180, 182,, thelatter being fast ona horizontal shaft 184- connected'by a chain andsprocket drive 186 to the drive shaft 188501? the conveyer 22. Theconveyer 22 may and preferably will comprise a-metal chain-like type ofbelt which runs over a driving sprocket 1% fast on the shaft 188 and anidler sprocket, not shown,

disposed at the other end of the conveyer.

From the description thus far it will be observed that the operatingmechanisms of the bottle handling apparatus including the cleaningmachinell), filling n1achine12, and the capping machine 14 arecontinuous-1y driven from the main driving mechanism through the maindriving shaft 68 in accurately timed relation to each other, and thatthe bottles are positively controlled and maintained in accuratelyspaced relation during. their transfer from one machine to another andduring their entire progress through the machine, sothat they aremaintained out of contact avoiding excessive noise and, breakage.

In accordance with the present invention provision is made for quicklyterminating the operation of the machine in the event of ajam ofa bottleor bottles at selected points, and as herein shown, safety control unitsor couplings are provided at a plurality of selected points in theapparatus. As illustrated in Fig. 1, one of the safety controllunits,indicated generally at 192, may be mounted on the vertical drive shaft146'for detecting an abnormal load at-this point, as may occur in.the-event of a jam at the intake or discharge points of the cleaningmachine 10. A second safety control unit, indicated generally at 194,may be mounted on the intake spider shaft 138' for detecting. a jambetween the transfer disk 46 and its cooperating bottle transferringelements, and a third safety control unit, indicated generally at 196may be mounted on the transfer disk shaft 126 for detecting a jambetween the transfer disk 53 and its cooperating bottle transferringelements.

In general the safety control units 192, 194, 196 comprise couplingshaving relatively movable driving and driven elements, the driven memberbeing adapted to yield a relatively small increment of movement uponencountering an excessive or abnormal load, such relative move mentbeing arranged to close a circuit for energizing a solenoid adapted toeffect immediate release of the clutch 96, applicationof the brake andopening of the circuit to the driving motor 18, thereby preventingbreakage of the bottles or damage to the operative parts of theapparatus.

As illustrated in detail in Figs. 7 and 8, a preferred design of safetycontrol unit or coupling which may be employed for cooperation witheither or both of the transfer disks 46 or 58, herein shown as employedfor cooperation'with the transfer disk 46, includes a driving member 200keyed to the vertical shaft 13$ and a cooperating hollow h'ood shapeddriven member 2112 surrounding the driving member. The cooperatingdriven member 202 is formed on the lower end of a transfer disk spindle204. The shaft 138' is journalled in bearing members 206, 2% in themachine frame and is rotated in a counterclockwise direction through thegear train including the gear 136 fast on the lower end of the shaft133, as previously described. The upper end of the shaft 138 is receivedin a bored opening 210 formed in the lower end'of the spindle 204, thespindle being rotatably supported in a bearing member 212 attached tothe machine frame and having the transfer disk 46 keyed to the upper endthereof, as clearly shown in Fig. 7. As shown in Fig. 8, the drivingmember 200 is provided with opposed radially extended fins 214, 216, oneof the fins 214 being extended into a clearance slot 218 formed in thedriven member 202 andarranged in driving engage? ment with a springpressed plug 220 slidably mounted in a bore formed in the driven member.The spring 222 is interposed between the plug and a set screw 224 forconvenience in adjusting the compression of the spring. A secondadjusting screw 226, also carried by the driven member 202,.is arrangedto engage the opposite side of the fin 214 for positioning and retainingthe member in operative driving engagement.

The opposite radially extended fin 216 projects into a clearance. slot228 formed by lugs 230, 232 on the inner periphery of the. hollow drivenmember 202 and is arranged'to cooperate with a microswitch 234 carriedby the driven element'2il2. The microswitch 234 is of the normallyclosed type and is held in an open position by engagement with theradial fin 216'during normal opera tion of the machine. The contacts ofthe microswitch 234 are connected by leads to separate collector rings240, 242-respectively which are mounted to rotate with the driven memberand insulated therefrom and from each other by aninsulatingplate 244.Stationary brushes 246, 248 cooperating with the collector rings 240,242, as illustrated are connected in a circuit to a solenoid 25%, seeFigs. 3 and 13, arranged to be energized upon closing of the circuitatthe microswitch 234 and to effect operation of the clutch and brake unit20 to quickly bring the machine to rest in the event of a jam at thetransfer disk-46;

Referring now particularly to Fig. 3, the armature 251 of the solenoid250'is connected by a link 252'to one arm 254 of a two armed leverpivotally mounted at 256, the second arm 258 being connected to anelongated vertically depending member'260having a hookportion 262 at itslower end arranged to cooperate with a toggle linkage 264, 266 normallymaintained in a dead center position, or slightly beyond dead center,against an ad justable stop stud 268 when the clutch is in its engagedposition, as illustrated in Fig. 3. A relatively heavy spring 270 isconnected between the clutch lever arm 271 and a member 272 attached toand extended from a stationary portion of the machine, the spring beingelongated under tension when the clutch is engaged and the togglelinkage is in its dead center position, as illustrated. One end of thetoggle linkage is carried on a fixed pivot pin 274 and the other end isconnected by a pin 275 to an arm 276 fast on the clutch lever rockershaft 96. The hook portion 262 of the vertical member 260 is normallydisposed slightly below the toggle center connecting pin 278 when innormal operating position. Thus, in the operation of the machine, when ajam occurs to effect slight relative movement between the driving anddriven members 200, 202 of the safety control unit and closing of thecircuit at the microswitch 234, the solenoid 250 will be energized todraw its armature 251 downwardly and effect upward movement of the hookmember 262 against the toggle pin 273 to break the toggle upwardly, therelatively heavy spring 270 effecting rapid rocking of the clutch lever93 and the movable clutch element 92 to the left, viewing Fig. 3, todisengage the clutch element 90 and to engage the brake element 100,thereby bringing the machine to rest.

As also illustrated in Fig. 3, provision is made for opening the circuitto the driving motor 18 upon shifting of the clutch lever 98 toterminate operation of the machine, and this may preferably beaccomplished by a switch 280 having a switch arm 282 included in themotor circuit, see Fig. 13. The switch 280 is mounted to cooperate witha cam member 284 fast on the fixed pivot pin 274 so that in operationwhen the pin 274 is rocked upon breaking of the toggle linkage, the cam284 will engage the switch arm 282 to open the switch and shut off themotor 18. Upon return of the clutch lever 98 to clutch engagingposition, the switch arm 282 will likewise return to its circuit closingposition to again start the motor 18.

Provision is also made in the preferred embodiment of the invention forpreventing movement of the clutch lever 98 to the right hand or engagedposition, viewing Fig. 3, until such time as the jam is cleared and themicroswitch 234 is again in its open position, and as herein shown, ahorizontally arranged arm 285 having a hook portion 286 at its free endis pivotally mounted on the pivot pin 274 and is urged to be rockedupwardly by a spring 288 connected to the vertical hook memher 260. Thearm 285 is normally held in its inoperative or downwardly rockedposition by engagement with the lower end of the vertical member 260.Upon lifting of the member 260 and breaking of the toggle linkage toshift the clutch operating elements to the left, the pin 275 at themovable end of the toggle is moved to the left, as illustrated in Fig.5, permitting the arm 235 to rock upwardly and to present its hookportion 236 into the path of the toggle pin 275. Thus, in operationshould the operator attempt to manually shift the clutch lever 98 tostart the machine before the jam is cleared and before the solenoid 250is deenergized, the end pin 275 will be engaged by the hook 286 toprevent engagement of the clutch. Upon clearing of the jam and restoringthe machine to normal operating condition, the vertical hook member 260will again be moved downwardly to rock the hook 286 to its inoperativeposition whereupon the clutch lever 98 may be moved to again start themachine and to reset the toggle elements to their dead center position.

From the description thus far it will be observed that in operation, themachine will be quickly brought to rest in the event of a jam at a pointadjacent the transfer disk 46, the cooperating driving and drivenelements 8 .200, 202 of the control unit 194 yielding slightly relativeto one another to effect operation of the microswitch 234 when a jamoccurs, and returning to their operative position immediately uponclearing of the jam so that the portion of the apparatus effected is notdisturbed or thrown out of timed relation with respect to the remainderof the apparatus or of the elements of the machines for performingsucceeding operations upon successive bottles passing therethrough. Asimilar safety control unit, indicated generally at 196, may likewise beprovided for cooperation with the driving shaft 126 and its spindle 290upon which the transfer disk 58 is mounted for transferring the bottlesfrom the filling machine 12 to the capping machine 14, the operatingelements and mode of operation being substantially the same as in thecontrol unit 194, above described. The control unit 196 is arranged tocooperate with a second microswitch 292, the microswitches beingarranged in parallel, as shown in Fig. 13, so that in operation thecircuit to the solenoid 250 may be closed upon operation of eithermicroswitch.

A third microswitch 294, also included in the parallel circuit to thesolenoid 250 is arranged to cooperate with the driving and drivenelements 296, 298 of a third safety control unit 192 illustrated indetail in Fig. 9, wherein the driving element 296 fast on the shaft 146is rotated in a clockwise direction by the chain and sprocket drive 144,and the driven element 298 forms a part of a spindle 300 upon which thepinion 148 is mounted for driving the cleaning machine 10. Thus, in theoperation of the machine, any abnormal or excessive load occurring atthe cleaning machine, such as may be caused by a jam at the intake ordischarge spiders 28, 36 will likewise be detected by the safety controlunit 192 to effect termination of operation of the machine.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 11 and 12, a modified form of safetycontrol unit adapted to terminate operation of the apparatus immediatelyupon detection of an abnormal load at selected points of the apparatusmay comprise pneumatically operated control mechanism, indicatedgenerally at 302, for effecting operation of a switch to close thecircuit to the solenoid 250. As herein shown, the general arrangement ofthe driving and driven elements 304, 306 may be substantially similar tothat above described, the driving element 304 having opposed radiallyextended fins 308, 310, the fin 308 being arranged for cooperation witha spring pressed plug unit 312 and set screw 314. The opposed radial fin310 is arranged to cooperate with the pneumatically operated controlmechanism 302 which, as herein shown, includes a conduit member 316carried by the driven element 306 and through which air undersubstantial pressure may be caused to fiow to be discharged through asmall orifice 313. The conduit 316 is provided with a restricted throatportion 320 spaced in advance of the discharge orifice 313 and arrangedto offer a substantial resistance to the flow of air therethrough, andthe control mechanism is further provided with a fiat headed pin 322carried by the fin 310 of the driving element 304 and, in effect,constituting a valve for opening and closing the discharge orifice. Withthis arrangement upon minute movement of the driving element 304relative to the driven element 306, the valve 322 operates to open thedischarge orifice 318 a minute amount, such for example as .001 of aninch, thereby efiecting a substantial pressure drop in the portion 324of the conduit between the discharge orifice 318 and the throat 320.Provision is made for utilizing such pressure drop for effectingoperation of a switch to close the circuit to the solenoid 250 to effectdisengagement of the clutch and application of the brake to terminateoperation of the machine, as above described.

As herein shown, the control mechanism for efiecting closing of thecircuit to the solenoid 250 includes a magnetic type switch 326 of knownconstruction arranged to cooperate with a magnet 328, forming part ofthe pneumatically operated control mechanism, of such structure as to beactuated by movement of the driving element 304 relative to the drivenelement 306 through a very minute distance. One available form ofmagnetic switch comprises a pair of contacts sealed in a glass tube andhaving a pool of mercury at the lower end of the tube. One of thecontacts is fixed in the mercury, the other being movable into and outof the mercury by the influence of the magnet 328 to open and close thecircuit to the solenoid 250. The magnetic switch 326 may be of thenormally closed type and is arranged to be held in its open position bythe magnet 328 when the latter is disposed in a vertical position, asillustrated in Fig. 11. The magnet is operatively connected to one endof a Bourdon tube 330, the other be ing connected to the conduit unit316 by a tube 332 which communicates with an annular chamber 333 formedin a stationary disk 335 interposed between the underside of the machineframe and the upper face of the driven member 306. A pipe 337, also incommunication with the chamber 333 is connected to the conduit unit 316,as shown. Air under pressure may be supplied to the conduit unit 316 byany usual or preferred form of regulated air supply through a tube 334which communicates with a second chamber 339 formed in the disk 335. Apipe 341, also in communication with the chamber 339 is connected to theconduit unit 316, as illustrated. The valve 322 is normally in contactwith the discharge orifice 318, as shown, to close the orifice andmaintain a predetermined pressure in the Bourdon tube and to thusmaintain the magnet 328 in its vertical position to hold the magneticswitch 326 open. In the operation of the pneumatically operated controlmechanism, in the event of a jam or resistance to rotation of the drivenelement 306 suflicient to effect relative movement of the driven anddriving elements, the valve 322 will move a minute distance away fromthe discharge end of the conduit to immediately effect a substantialreduction in the air pressure in the Bourdon tube, and as a result themagnet 328 is caused to be instantly rocked to the right to permit theswitch 326 to close and immediately energizing the solenoid 250 toeifect termination of operation of the machine.

From the above description it will be seen that the present safetycontrol mechanism for container handling machines enables the operationof the machine to be immediately terminated in response to an excessiveor abnormal load or resistance to rotation at a plurality ofpredetermined and selected points of the apparatus in the event of a jamat such selected points whereby to prevent breaking of the containers ordamage to the machine without displacement of the operating elementsrelative to each other and without disturbing the timed relationshiptherebetween. It will also be observed that the present controlmechanism is of particular advantage in a container handling machinehaving two or more container transferring spiders arranged ininterlocking and timed relation, the control mechanism etlfectingtermination of operation of the machine substantially instantly upondetection of an abnormal resistance to rotation of the spiders wherebyto prevent dislocation of the spiders relative to the driving elementsor the cooperating transfer elements. It will be further observed thatthe driving and driven elements of each detecting unit may be adjustedto effect termination of operation of the machine at difierentpredetermined resistances to rotation at the selected points of themachine, and that any excessively abnormal resistance occurring at anyother point in the machine will effect release of the overload safetyunit 70 of the main driving connections.

While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been hereinillustrated and described, it will be understood that the invention maybe embodied in other forms within the scope of the'following claims.

This application is a division of my copending application, Serial No.132,242, filed December 10, 1949, and now Patent No. 2,762,497.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. Container moving mechanism, drive means therefor, control meansincluding a plurality of coupling units, each having relatively movabledriving and driven elements, said units being disposed at a plurality ofdifierent points for selectively detecting an abnormal resistance to thecontainer movement at such points, and solenoid operated meanscooperating with said drive means and responsive to said detecting meansfor immediately terminating operation of the machine when an abnormalresistance to the container movement occurs at any of such points, saidcontrol means including an electrical circuit having a switch for eachcoupling unit, pneumatically operated means responsive to relativemovement of said coupling elements for actuating said switch, saidpneumatically operated means being arranged to effect closing of itsswitch to energize said solenoid upon a minute relative movement of saidcoupling elements.

2. Container moving mechanism, drive means therefor, control meansincluding a plurality of coupling units, each having relatively movabledriving and driven elements, said units being disposed at a plurality ofdifferent points for selectively detecting an abnormal resistance to thecontainer movement at such points, and solenoid operated meanscooperating with said drive means and responsive to said detecting meansfor immediately terminating operation of the machine when an abnormalresistance to the container movement occurs at any of such points, saidcontrol means including an electrical circuit having a switch for eachcoupling unit, pneumatically operated means responsive to relativemovement of said coupling elements for actuating said switch, saidpneumatically operated means being arranged to efiect closing of itsswitch to energize said solenoid upon a minute relative movement of saidcoupling elements, and means for adjusting said coupling units to permitrelative movement of their driving and driven elements at varyingresistances at said dilferent points.

3. Container moving mechanism, drive means therefor, control meansincluding a plurality of coupling units, each having relatively movabledriving and driven elements, said units being disposed at a plurality ofdiflEerent points for selectively detecting an abnormal resistance tothe container movement at such points, and solenoid operated meanscooperating with said drive means and responsive to said detecting meansfor immediately terminating operation of the machine when an abnormalresistance to the container movement occurs at any of such points, saidcontrol means including an electrical circuit having a switch for eachcoupling unit, pneumatically operated means responsive to relativemovement of said coupling elements for actuating said switch, saidpneumatically operated means eifecting the closing of its switch toenergize said solenoid upon a minute relative movement of said couplingelements, said pneumatically operated means including a conduit carriedby said driven element through which air under substantial pressure mayflow, said conduit having a small discharge orifice, a restricted throatportion spaced in advance of the discharge orifice for offering asubstantial resistance to the flow of air therethrough and a valvecarried by the driving element for opening and closing the dischargeorifice whereby to effect a substantial pressure variation in theconduit between the orifice and the throat, and connections between saidconduit and said switch for actuating the switch upon occurrence of suchpressure variation.

No references cited,

